I Have Two Brothers
by Areiton
Summary: Sam has a brother. That's what he tells people. But family don't end with blood. And there's another brother who needs his reassurance this morning… Conclusion to the CURSED OR NOT and THE THINGS THAT BRING US HOME
I always tell people I have an older brother. Dean Winchester. Hunter, the Righteous Man, the Michael Sword, the Knight of Hell.

Before he was any of those things, though, he was my Dean and I was his Sammy and we were two fucked up kids, learning how to kill things we had no business killing.

I hated Dad for that. Not just for how he fucked me up - but later. After I grew up and got over my own damage.

When I realized just how much Dad messed up Dean.

I kinda wanted to raise him from the dead just so I could punch him in the face.

But the thing is-and this is something my adopted father taught me-that family don't end with blood.

And I made my peace with the old man. He was just as damaged as we are. At least we had each other. He fucked up a lot of things but a broken man does and he gave me the best friend I could ask for, the brother who would-has-literally died for me.

So. I tell people. I have a brother.

I don't always mention is that family _doesn't_ end in blood.

Because I had a father. A man I adored and respected and grieve, still. The one who kept me safe as much as he could, growing up, and taught me how to throw a baseball instead of how to shoot a nine mil. The one who was happy, when I went to Stanford, and got out.

And I have a sister. She's crazy and beautiful and I miss her some days so much it hurts. I don't tell Dean that. He deals with Charlie's absence in his own way, and we both are glad, that she has a life that doesn't revolve around us. Around hunting. She's better than that. She's the one who brings out Dean's nerdy side and reminds me that I'm smart but I'll never be Charlie Bradbury smart.

And.

I have another brother.

* * *

I'm sitting in the main room when Cas creeps down the hall. He looks, for lack of a better term, completely and thorough fucked and nope. Need to stop that thought right there.

He freezes when he sees me, and I see...guilt?...flash in his eyes for a moment before it's gone. He looks lost. The way he did when he first came to us, after he pulled Dean from the pit and defied Heaven.

Like he isn't sure what his reception will be or if he belongs here.

Which kills me because if there is anything I'm sure of, it's that Cas belongs here. With us.

"Coffee?" I ask, nodding at the pot in front of me. He makes a noise I take as yes and I pour a cup before handing it up to him. He makes a happy noise, and shuffles around the table to sit across from me.

On the best days, Cas is not a morning person, so I ignore him, and focus while he let's the scent of coffee wake him up

"What are you working on?" he asks after sipping and yeah. Dudes voice has always been deep and rough, but today it's-I shake my head, ignoring what I know, what I won't be able to ignore for long, and point. "Trying to find Metatron."

Cas stiffens, and I glance up, confused. "Why?" he grates out. "Hasn't he done enough damage?"

"He has your grace, Cas." I say, gently. And he blinks. Stares at me like he doesn't quite get what I'm saying.

It's not true. Castiel isn't stupid. He might have no common sense, or social cue to work with—but he isn't stupid.

"He's dangerous, Sam."

I lean back and study Cas.

"Everything we do is dangerous. Yesterday was dangerous. Do you think we shouldn't have cured Dean, because it was dangerous?"

Furious blue eyes flash up to meet mine and I grin. "You would never have agreed to leave him a demon. Why do you think we'd agree to leave you without your grace?" I hesitate and then, "Especially now."

And what do you know. An angel _can_ blush. He shifts and looks back at his coffee, muttering. "I don't know what you mean."

I laugh and his gaze goes wounded.

"Do you think it bothers me?" I ask, curious.

"It's…different," Cas says, stiffly "I understand that Dean is your brother and—"

"Cas, stop," I say, gently but firm. And he does. He shifts in his chair, his hands opening and closing on his cup like it's a weapon.

Like he needs a weapon.

His shoulders hunched and braced for my anger.

I've known. For years. Since before purgatory—hell, I think I knew before the big dance that ended with me in the pit.

I think I've always known.

I definitely knew before they did. Dean was so deep in denial I'm vaguely surprised that he relented and allowed it to happen. And Cas—Cas. He spent so much of his life serving Heaven, and then they fucked up. They sent him to retrieve a soul from Hell.

It changed everything. Because from that day on, he was drawn to Dean.

Castiel marked my brother, but Dean is the one who owned Cas's soul. Always had been. So there is nothing about this that surprises me.

"Are you happy, Cas?" I ask.

His blue eyes flick up to mine, surprised. "Why?"

"Because you aren't what you were." I say.

He frowns. "Does that bother you?"

"This isn't about me, Cas."

"I liked being human," he says, wistful. "And I would be happy to be that again. But I'm an angel, Sam. I need my grace."

And there it is. "Will you go back? To heaven?"

"No," he says, softly. Firmly. "Heaven…heaven doesn't need me."

 _Dean does._

That is the implied, unspoken truth.

And it loosens the knot of fear I've been ignoring since I realized that Cas never emerged from Dean's bedroom.

"It doesn't bother me," I say and his eyes jerk to me. Startled. Hopeful. "You've been in love with him for years, Cas. And I want you to be happy." I hesitated. "You found him, didn't you? When I first called you, after he vanished."

There's that guilt again.

I let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I shouldn't have lied to you about your brother," he says, softly.

I shrug. It doesn't matter. Not really. Because he's here, now. My whole family is here. And for the first time in I don't know how long, he's happy. Both of them are happy.

"Hey, Cas?"

I can hear Dean in the hall, his voice rumbling through the bunker, and Cas twitches, his gaze flitting to me, before he turns his body toward my brother.

"You know. He isn't my only brother. And I want both of you to be happy."

For a moment, his eyes are wide and shocked and then.

A smile. The kind of smile he only ever gives to Dean, wide and free and happy, crosses his face and lights up his eyes.

It's still there when Dean enters the room, and his neck is fucking covered in bruises and bite marks. It doesn't fade. Not even when Dean ignores my shit-eating grin and pulls him up and into a kiss.

It's right. Perfect. The way it's always supposed to have been.

I have two brothers. Even if I don't tell people that. And today. For today. They're both happy.


End file.
